Canadian Politics This Week

This week has been full of events in Canadian politics and Parliament has taken another turn when it comes to good behaviour.   Highlights this week were the election in Alberta, the student protests in Quebec and the raising of the "abortion" issue in a private members bill in the House of Commons.  There was also the apparent request by the U.S. for Australia and Canada to leave a small number of troops in Afghanistan post 2014.  A new poll suggests that the Conservative Party is in a statistical tie with the Official Opposition "New Democratic Party."

Alberta led the growth in the Canadian economy, which expanded 2.6% in 2011, well behind the 3.4% expansion in 2010.  Alberta and Saskatchewan were well ahead of the remainder of Canada with an expansion of 5.2% and 4.8% respectively.  In contrast Ontario and Quebec expanded 2.0% and 1.7%.  The economies in P.E.I, N.B. and N.S. are all but at a standstill ranging from 1.1 to .01%, while Newfoundland is above the national average at 2.9%.  Manitoba at 1.1% growth is the only Western Province below the national average.  The Yukon and Nunavut far exceeded the national average, while the economy of the North West Territories contracted by 5.5%.

Turning to the Alberta elections, Monday nights results were a major misreading of the polling organizations.  Pollsters had predicted a Wildrose sweep, yet when it was all said and done, Alison Redford's Progressive Conservative Party had an overwhelming majority, capturing 61 of 87 seats in the Alberta Legislature.  The big loser is the Alberta Liberal Party, which went from 26% of the popular vote in 2008 to just 10% in Monday's election.  While the Wildrose Party did not meet the expectations of the polls, it nonetheless gained 16 seats over 2008 and now forms the official opposition.  Many analysts believe that the election turned into Redford's favour during the last three days of the campaign.  The politics of fear worked and many Liberals joined the Redford camp, especially the unions and teachers. 

Alison Redford has a job on her hands to keep her promises, improve the ailing health care system and stamp out corruption and intimidation in her party.  The Wildrose Party will, no doubt, hold her and the Progressive Conservatives to account.  It should make for an interesting four years in the Alberta Legislature.

In Ontario, the Liberal government is one seat short of a majority and after the Progressive Conservative leader rejected the proposed the budget outright, Premier Dalton McGuinty made concessions to the New Democrats to pass his budget, another deficit budget, which resulted in Ontario's credit rating being downgraded. 

The fortunes seem to be turning in the favour of the Ontario Liberals though, since Tory MPP Elizabeth Witmer resigned on Friday, triggering a byelection.  Witmer is the MPP for Kitchener-Waterloo.  In last October's vote, Witmer had 21,356 votes while Liberal candidate Eric Davis finished second with 17,837 votes.  That riding is now up for grabs in a byelection that must be called within six months. 

Then there was the issued of student protests and violence in Montreal over tuition fees.  Even with the newly proposed increases by the Charest government, Quebec students pay the lowest tuition fees anywhere in Canada.  In Alberta for full time tuition the cost is double compared to Quebec students.  If Quebec students ever had the sympathy of the public, it is unlikely that anyone is on their side after the violence and destruction caused by their protests.  Every day they strike costs the taxpayer additional fund to pay for police forces.  Go figure.

On the national scene a private members motion once again ignited the fire between pro-life and pro-choice forces.  The motion called for a committee to be formed to examine when life starts.  While the bill will go nowhere, it again raised doubts as to the Prime Minister's secret agenda.  The Prime Minister already indicated he would vote against the motion.  In likelihood most of his caucus will as well.  The Liberals will allow a free vote on the issue, while the NDP has instructed its MPs to vote against the motion.  One has to shake his head and wonder why this issue has to be raised yet again.  These issues have been settled decades ago.

As it became know this week that there may be a request by the U.S. for Canada to leave some troops in Afghanistan past 2014, the debate was once again ignited.  The NDP is absolutely against any troops remaining in Afghanistan, while the government indicated they would consider it.

"As we approach that date, we will examine all options and we will take the decision that is in the best interest of this country and in the best interest of our security objectives for the globe," PM Harper said. 

When Mulcair asked the prime minister about the extension, Harper attacked the NDP for being pacifists regardless of the situation. "In 1939, the NDP leader didn’t even want to support the fight against Hitler," said Harper. Of course the PM was referring to the CCF, the predecessor of the NDP.  This created a lot of chatter in the twitter sphere, with Canadians offering history lessons to the PM. 

All in all it has been a busy week in Canada, with the election campaign heating up in British Columbia, the Question Period comedy hour, student violence and demonstrations in Quebec and the Alberta election.  

30th Anniversary - Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The document was signed into law on April 17th, 1982 by Queen Elizabeth II,  as part of the repatriation of the Canadian constitution.  The document is considered a nation changer.   The charter enshrines certain fundamental freedoms, namely freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of belief, freedom of expression, freedom of the press and of other media of communication, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association.

While Progressives and the Liberal Party of Canada, including former Prime Minister Jean Chretien say that the 30th anniversary deserves official recognition, the Conservative government has been quiet on the issue.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked to comment on what he thinks about the Charter and he gave a qualified response:

 "In terms of the anniversary, the charter was an important step forward in the development of Canadian rights policy, a process that began in earnest with John Diefenbaker's Bill of Rights in 1960, so it's a little over 50 years old.   In terms of this as an anniversary, I think it's an interesting and important step, but I would point out that the charter remains inextricably linked to the patriation of the Constitution and the divisions around that matter, which as you know are still very real in some parts of the country," Harper said.

Quebec did not sign the Constitution Act of 1982 and there have been several attempts to get Quebec on side with both the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accord. 

The Charter is part of the Constitution Act of 1982 and was preceded by the Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960.  While most of the rights and freedoms existed in some form, the Charter provided rights to minorities.   As with any document,  the Charter is not without its critics, which believe that the Charter gives too much power to activist unelected judges.

One would have to be a constitutional lawyer to get into the details of the Charter, suffice to say that the Charter has given protection to minorities from an overwhelming majority.   The Ottawa Citizen has an article by  Errol P. Mendes, who  is editor in chief of the National Journal of Constitutional Law and a professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa.

"Can a single constitutional document change the evolution of a society? I would argue that happened when the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was signed on April 17, 1982, by the Queen on Parliament Hill. On April 17, 2012, we should all be celebrating the 30th anniversary of this historic document.

The architect of the Charter, Pierre Trudeau and his party, which included 72 of the 75 MPs from Quebec, hoped that the Charter would produce a common citizenship that would unite French and English Canadians together with the many communities that make up the Canadian multicultural mosaic. Trudeau had also hoped that Canada would be brought into the mainstream of nations that had entrenched fundamental rights and freedoms to prevent the unbridled power of democratic majorities, as he had witnessed in Quebec under the regime of premier Maurice Duplessis."  Ottawa Citizen 


New Brunswick Prog Conserv Gov Press Release